| I want you to do me a favor. Close your eyes, | | | | October begins the month before! It's not all |
| and think back: back to college, back to | | | | fun and games, though; even good times hit |
| Mardi Gras, back to Cancun. Imagine biggest | | | | their bad times. In the past 197 years, |
| party you've ever been to in your life. For | | | | Munich has called off Oktoberfest 24 times |
| some, it's that once-in-a-lifetime trip to | | | | due to famine, disease, and two world wars. |
| New Orleans; for others, it's the frat fest | | | | In 1980, a lone far-right nutcase struck |
| at Halloween where there are more little | | | | another blow with a pipe bomb that killed |
| party cups than there are human beings. | | | | thirteen people and injured 200 more. Despite |
| Whatever that uber-party is, picture it in | | | | it all, however, Germany's most famous party |
| your mind. Now multiply it by, oh, at least a | | | | always bounced back, and today an estimated |
| million. You might-might-approach the jubilee | | | | 15% of its 6.5 million visitors come from |
| that is Oktoberfest, the largest public | | | | overseas. Every Oktoberfest begins the same |
| festival in the world. With an average of six | | | | way: a crowd of people 8,000-strong marches |
| million annual visitors and only God knows | | | | through Munich, dressed in traditional |
| how many beers, the yearly festival in Munich | | | | Bavarian clothes and led by the town |
| dwarfs every other celebration on earth-save, | | | | "kindl"--a sort of 'town mascot,' usually a |
| maybe, the millennium celebration. And unlike | | | | small child or young woman, who represents |
| other parties that stop after, oh, one or two | | | | the Munich coat of arms. After the parade, |
| days, Oktoberfest sees fit to keep on | | | | the city mayor officially kicks off the |
| truckin' for two weeks. That's a lot of beer, | | | | festivities by tapping a ceremonial keg and |
| but fortunately there are plenty of people to | | | | declaring (to the joy of the crowd) "it's |
| drink it. Stretching from the last weekend of | | | | been tapped!" From there, thirsty |
| September to the first weekend of October, | | | | festival-goers (many who arrived at 9 AM for |
| Oktoberfest attracts visitors from every | | | | the evening event) finally get to taste the |
| corner of the globe-and has inspired a | | | | special Oktoberfest beer, a strong, dark brew |
| plethora of tributes in just as many | | | | only made during the festival. It's drank by |
| countries. Odds are, if you're anywhere near | | | | the gallons in streets, bars, and especially |
| some fairgrounds, there'll be people in | | | | in the 10,000-capacity festival tent! Of |
| Bavarian dress clinking mugs and singing | | | | course, some (most) of us can't hop a plane |
| polka. But despite the legions of drunk | | | | to Munich any time soon, so how do we |
| youths (known as "beer corpses" by the | | | | celebrate on our side of the pond? |
| locals) stumbling through Munich every year, | | | | Well-prepared brewmeisters can twist open a |
| Oktoberfest certainly isn't just about the | | | | bottle of homemade beer, but the rest of us |
| bier. In fact, overconsumption of alcohol is | | | | can find ways to participate, too. Consider |
| looked down upon by nearly every Oktoberfest | | | | cooking one of these German and Bavarian |
| veteran as a sign of youthful inexperience. | | | | cuisine-inspired recipes: Holly's German |
| Oktoberfest is also about the people, the | | | | Spaetzle Dumplings Shrimp and Fresh Herb |
| food, and the music-all of them coming | | | | Spaetzle with Creamy Tomato Sauce Grilled |
| together to celebrate a German cultural | | | | Bratwurst with German Potato Salad German |
| tradition dating back to 1810. The first | | | | Soft Pretzels Ritter's Inn Sauerbraten and |
| Oktoberfest began on October 12, 1810 as a | | | | Dumplings Or try making your own sauerkraut |
| massive horse race, all to celebrate the | | | | with help from this video. For the less |
| marriage of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and | | | | culinarily-inclined, many towns around the |
| Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. | | | | country throw Oktoberfest bashes-all you need |
| The festival grounds were named | | | | to do is go, pay, and enjoy. We recommend |
| Theresienwiese in honor of the princess; even | | | | doing this even if you do cook for yourself; |
| today, locals refer affectionately to them as | | | | part of Oktoberfest's appeal is the crowd! |
| "Die Weisen." Unsurprisingly, the revelry | | | | Whatever you end up doing, you'd better make |
| surrounding the races was tremendously | | | | sure to do it soon. There's only 11 days of |
| popular, and by 1813 the festival was | | | | Oktoberfest left...and the clock is ticking! |
| declared mandatory for every year. People | | | | |
| loved it so much it soon stretched to two | | | | Recipe4Living has tens of thousands of |
| weeks in length; as the years went on, | | | | recipes, a growing userbase, and tons of |
| organizers pushed the starting point back | | | | features that would make any foodie drool. |
| into September to take advantage of the | | | | There can never be enough cooks in our |
| milder weather. So now-somewhat | | | | kitchen, so stop at today! |
| counter-intuitively-a festival named for | | | | |